Great Britain: Now and Back Then

Despite the claims by some fans that the current Great Britain and Ireland side named is not their best team, it is certainly capable of defeating the Australians on paper, especially when you compare it to the side of 2001 which beat the Kangaroos at McAlpine Stadium on November 11.

In the 2001 Test Series where the Lions were actually competitive for two of the three matches, winning one, and only just losing the third with the ball simply not bouncing their way on the night a pretty impressive effort for a side which had no real halves combination or hooker. There was no Morley in the forwards and Farrell was playing in the loose forward position. Horne was an untested prospect and the majority of the team was either approaching the end of their international career or start.

Now two years later, interesting how things have changed. The Lions have a proper hooker for the series in the shame of Terry Newton, rather than Mike Forshaw, Sean Long adds a wealth of skill to the halves position, and the team overall is a lot more structured in each of their positions. Sculthorpe has now got five tests under his belt at stand off, plus played the majority of this Super League season in that position, in 2001 he was only reasonably new to the position.

The forwards look a lot more hungry as well, Farrell is far more effective from the second row than he ever was a Loose Forward. No offence to the captain, but he seems to make more yards with a number 12 on his back rather than 13. Terry O?Conner and Chris Joynt have left the international scene and Morley rejoins the forward back after years in the international abysis.

If the Lions can play with that same passion they did in the first test in 2001, they clearly have the side to go one step better.